


That's Not How You Described It To Me

by rebeccade



Category: Wicked - All Media Types, Wicked - Schwartz/Holzman
Genre: F/F, F/M, Loss, Missing Scene, POV Fiyero, Romance, fiyero finds out elphaba's on the run, glinda doesn't, glinda/fiyero reunion, he wants to go after her
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-23
Updated: 2020-12-23
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:35:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,025
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28251747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rebeccade/pseuds/rebeccade
Summary: Fiyero and Glinda's reunion after "Defying Gravity". Glinda tells Fiyero what happened to Elphaba. He wants to go after her, she doesn't.
Relationships: Elphaba Thropp & Galinda Upland, Elphaba Thropp/Fiyero Tigelaar, Elphaba Thropp/Galinda Upland, Fiyero Tigelaar/Galinda Upland
Comments: 2
Kudos: 7





	That's Not How You Described It To Me

“Where are we going?”

The guards still said nothing to Fiyero as they escorted him through the endless emerald halls. He could feel his blood boiling. He wasn’t used to being ordered around and intimidated; under normal circumstances he didn’t stand for it. After all, it was his rebelliousness that had gotten him kicked out of dozens of schools, that made his parents keep searching for new ones to send him off to. But he was in the palace now, he sensed that subordinance may have more dire consequences than a forced transfer. 

Quickly in his mind he ran through the little he knew of the situation. He knew that his girlfriend, Glinda, and her best friend, Elphaba, had left for the Emerald City and they hadn’t come back. He knew that Elphaba had caused some sort of trouble and now was nowhere to be found. He knew armed guards had come for him at Shiz and were now leading him somewhere in the palace. 

He knew that someone wasn’t telling him the full story. He wanted to know, no he _needed_ to know what had happened. And, he knew his best chance of discovering the truth was by playing along.

They finally reached the end of the hall where a pair of green double doors towered over them. A guard opened them and brusquely nudged Fiyero through. 

He was in what appeared to be a private suite. Everything was, of course, shades of green, from the chaise-lounge, to the drapes overlooking the balcony, to the four poster bed he could spy in the next room. As he took in his surroundings, Fiyero heard the doors close behind him followed by a definitive locking sound.

Was he a prisoner here? If he was, it seemed he was to be a very well-treated one.

“Fiyero!” 

She had come rushing in from the other room, and suddenly her arms were around him. He was used to Glinda being clingy and possessive, especially in public: it was her way of showing the world that he was hers. That she had won him. But, now, something in her hold felt different. As if she clung to him because she missed him? Or because she needed him?

However, when she pulled back she showed no signs of distress. She was beaming. She was dressed in a radiant gown of blue and green, her gloves reached up to her elbows. Her hair was pulled back in a complicated updo that somehow made her look older. 

“Oh, thank _goodness_ you’re here!” She looked composed but, was that a hint of relief in her voice?

As he always did when feeling vulnerable, Fiyero chose dry humor;  
“Yes, well, I didn’t really have much of a choice, what with the armed escort.”

Glinda gave a nervous laugh, “Oh, you don’t need to worry about them, they were acting on my orders.”

“ _Your_ orders? Since when have you been in a position to command the Wizard’s guards?”

Glinda couldn’t help but give one of her sly smiles. She continued with an air of importance,  
“The Wizard has taken quite an interest in me. He wants me to remain here at the palace, so that _I_ can advise him.”

“Stay here? But what about Shiz? I mean, you know I think school’s a joke, but you only just got into that sorcery class, I can’t believe you’d just give it up!”

“Well, that’s the best part, I don't have to!” Glinda said, excitedly, “Madame Morrible is staying here, too, seeing as she’s the Wizard’s new press secretary, and she’s already agreed to tutor me privately in the evenings.”

“ _Privately?_ ”  
His question had the desired effect. He saw Glinda’s facade begin to slip. 

“Yes, well, there's no one else for her to teach me anymore, since Elph… after what happened last week.”

Glinda suddenly became quiet, and there was an unnatural stillness in her that Fiyero had never seen before. 

“Glinda, what happened?” Fiyero began tentatively, 

Though his heart was pounding with dread, he tried his best to tread carefully. Something had gone terribly wrong, and, knowing Glinda, she would want to avoid confronting that pain at all costs. But he was going to make her face it, he needed to know what she was hiding.

“Glinda, where’s Elphaba?”

It was as if the question had given her permission to remove her mask of happiness. Her eyes glanced away from him, towards the window, and then they closed. Her breath was coming in intense short gasps, like she was afraid the air would run out. The entirety of her short, petite frame was shaking. Fiyero had never seen her so vulnerable. 

But still, she said nothing.

“Glinda, please,” he grabbed her gloved hands. “You can talk to me. Just... tell me what happened.”

He managed to get her to sit. They were together on the chaise lounge, still holding hands. Eventually Glinda's breath began to calm. She looked away from him as she spoke.

“We met the Wizard. Madame Morrible was there, too. They brought out the Grimmerie and asked Elphie to read a spell. The rest of us couldn’t understand that book at all, but she started chanting like it was the easiest thing in the world! And it worked! She made all of the Wizard’s monkeys grow wings!”

Glinda’s look of awe and admiration faded as she continued, speaking so quickly that Fiyero struggled to understand her,

“Elphie got scared. She wanted to undo it, but she couldn’t. And then they started talking about having the monkeys work for the Wizard and then she got _really_ mad. She told the Wizard that he had no real power, and that’s why he needed her. He asked her to work with him, he offered her the opportunity of a lifetime! Well, he offered _us_ the opportunity of a lifetime...” 

Glinda took a deep, rattling breath. And suddenly her voice became small.

“But Elphie ran off. I ran after her…”

Now she was saying nothing at all, though her mouth still opened and closed, as if she was trying to find the strength to speak, but failing. He could see that in her mind she was reliving whatever had happened. But that wasn’t good enough. Fiyero wanted to know. He _needed_ to know.

“Glinda,” he said, as gently as he could. “It’s ok. It’s just me. You can tell me.”

She took another deep breath, and continued, barely louder than a whisper,  
“We ended up in the attic. Elphie barricaded the door behind us. From there, we heard Madame Morrible’s proclamation to all of the Emerald City. That Elphie had… _mutilated_ the monkeys… that she was _evil_ … that she was… a _wicked_ witch.”

The hand that wasn't holding Glinda’s clenched into a fist. 

Glinda continued, oblivious to any pain but her own,

“I… I tried to tell Elphie that it wasn’t too late, that we could still fix this. She could still work with the Wizard. But you know how stubborn she is... her mind was made up. She was still holding the Grimmerie from before, she said another spell and it made a broom fly.”

Glinda was silent for a long minute, as if there was something else that had happened that she was remembering. But, whatever it was, she didn’t say it out loud. 

Finally, she continued, “and then, just as the guards burst through, she flew away.” 

Another pause, and then,

“She was so beautiful. Up there in the sky, flying away from all of us. I wish you could have seen it.”

Fiyero’s stomach was a churning pit of emotions. Every part of him wanted to stand up, walk out the door and confront the Wizard. He would scream and shout, about what he wasn't sure, he just needed this all put right. 

That day, with the lion cub, Fiyero had let Elphaba into his heart, he knew it now. And of course, when perhaps he was finally ready to truly listen, to let her change him, where was she? Flying somewhere in Oz, trying to stay out of trouble, and most likely failing miserably. 

His rage was back, determination setting in.  
“So, what’s the plan?”

Glinda looked up, confused, “What plan?”

“The plan to find Elphaba. To join her,” Fiyero said, “We have to help her!”

Glinda looked at him in shock, “Join her? Fiyero have you lost your mind? She’s a wanted fugitive!”

She took a breath and composed herself a little, “and besides, how can we help her by joining her? We’re much better positioned here, in the palace, don’t you think? That way we’ll know what’s going on. I’m in the Wizard’s good graces now, so that means you are, too. If we stay here, when Elphie comes back, she’ll have friends to put in a good word for her.”

Fiyero wanted to laugh. Elphaba wasn’t coming back. Not unless it was to tear the palace to the ground, and Fiyero somehow doubted that Glinda would “put in a good word” for her doing that. 

He tried again, “Glinda-” 

“Fiyero, please,” Glinda’s voice cracked in desperation, her eyes were full with a fear that they’d probably never known before. She looked at him as though he were her one and only lifeline, “I can’t do this without you.”

Fiyero’s bravado began to fade. What had he been thinking? That he would storm the palace, start a rebellion? That wasn't who he was. He was the beguiling prince; a troublemaker, perhaps, but not an activist. And, even if he could find the courage to speak out, that's certainly not who Glinda wanted him to be. Clingy Glinda, who needed friends, needed a boyfriend, who couldn’t bear to be left alone. Glinda would never forgive him for that. He held his tongue, suppressed his anger, and he hated how easy it was to do it. 

“Okay,”  
He could feel his determination melting away.

Glinda smiled and gave a small laugh of relief.  
But the next minute she was truly sobbing, and Fiyero found himself holding her in his arms.

“Oh, Fiyero! I was so scared!”

Fiyero tried to comfort her,  
“It’s okay,” he said, without really meaning it. 

He thought of Elphaba, about that day with the lion cub. Just like that day, Elphaba had once again put herself at risk for the sake of the Animals. But this time, he hadn’t been there to help her escape. 

If only he had been there. He would have stayed and fought them off, to give her a head start. He would have gotten on that broom with her, if she had asked. 

But, it had been Glinda at her side, not him. Wide-eyed Glinda, who, in Elphaba’s hour of need, had just stood in confusion while Elphaba saw things for what they were and made all of the hard choices. 

So now Elphaba was gone. Away, in need of help, but out of reach, maybe forever, and he couldn’t find the strength to follow her. 

_I may never be with her again_ he thought, in a rush of despair.  
And who was he with instead? Shallow, bubbly Glinda, who just wanted to be happy and to do what was expected of her. And here she was, sitting on a chaise lounge, crying. Needing him. 

He knew it wasn’t her fault, but Fiyero couldn’t help but be angry with her. It was easier than being angry with himself.

Unaware of the cyclone raging in Fiyero’s mind, Glinda found the breath to muster out the words,  
“I… I just can’t believe she’s gone!”  
And suddenly she was sobbing in earnest again. Fiyero held Glinda tight, and wished he could be holding someone else instead. 

Finally, Glinda calmed again, and struggled to regain a semblance of composure. She dabbed at her eyes with a handkerchief and brushed away tears with a gloved hand as she said, “I mean, I know I haven’t known her for very long, but now… I can’t imagine my life without her!”

Fiyero closed his eyes, breathing deeply. He took a moment before he replied,  
“Yeah, I know exactly what you mean.”


End file.
